The Midnight Charter by David Whitley

Author:David Whitley
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780141928364
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2009-07-03T04:00:00+00:00

It was the same as always. Mark shuffled along to the steps, trying to look poised. There was nothing complicated about the dance itself. It seemed to him to be entirely made up of walking in time and trying not to bump into people, and by now he barely paid attention to his feet. His attention was drawn to faces. To the parade of leering, grinning masks that spiralled around him, amidst the sea of colour, and the muffled words and thoughts that lurked behind. With practised ease he nodded to one, laughed politely at a joke, invited an older lady to dance with a gracious bow. Even so, he often felt like their pet. He was now nearly as tall as the grander businessmen, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being cast in the role of the jester, the mascot, the little boy playing at business.

Still, let them think it, he mused, as he took the hands of a plump, elderly woman whose fortune lay in flowers and who liberally displayed her wares in her wig. He glanced across the garden. Over by the marquee he saw a coterie of old astrologers picking at his food. He continued to receive twice the number of requests for personal readings that any of them did and, unlike Count Stelli, he was only too pleased to oblige. It was the source of all his success, all his power.

When he thought about it now, it seemed so obvious, so simple, but it had taken Snutworth to explain it to him at first. He had shown Mark how the wealthy businesses lived in constant fear of uncertainty, of shifts in the never-ending market. That was the danger of contracts – no matter how valuable you thought your wares, they were never worth any more or less than what you were willing, or able, to trade them for. One moment a merchant could be on top of the world, and then a single dissatisfied customer, or smear on his reputation, could make his precious wares fall from grace, changing hands for a pittance. In an attempt to protect their friends from misfortune the wealthy formed guilds and business consortia, but everyone knew, no matter how powerful they were, that tomorrow could bring disaster.

That was where Mark came in. People wanted security, they wanted to be able to predict what the future would hold, and trade only with those on whom fortune would smile. And if the stars happened to point customers in their direction, lightly veiled in mystical language of course, they were usually very grateful. The kind of gratitude that had to be kept in a vault.

At first, Mark had relied on Snutworth’s guidance to suggest whom to support, but he had soon learned to read the web of alliances that held the city together. It was no different from this dance – bowing to some, passing by others and being careful not to tread on the toes of anyone who could cause him harm.

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